Cinema
by Yazzy
Summary: Bryan and Mariah enjoy a trip to the cinema despite Lee's objections. BryanMariah.


A congratulatory present for a person who will never again be able to convince me that he is anything other than incredibly clever! I'm looking at youuu, D! And chss, it isn't yaoi! Feel special, I don't write het for just anyone XD! It's 1:30 am and I am so tired and yet so high...so yeah, enjoy:

* * *

Bryan Kuznetsov would be the first person to admit that he was socially inept. People confused him. People were often mean to him. He didn't trust people. When he thought about it, the same was probably true in reverse. He knew he was strange- no doubt he confused people. And he had no illusions about being kind and caring- he knew that he was a very cruel and unkind person. And he knew people didn't trust him. Because...well, he had a reputation, after all. 

Bryan never normally let this bother him. But standing outside the hotel room his girlfriend was sharing with her brother, suddenly that reputation seemed to matter a very great deal. He had avoided Lee since he had started dating Mariah, knowing that while the older neko-jin was at least half a foot shorter than him, he was also insanely protective and liable to beat Bryan into a fine paste just to make absolutely -sure- he knew not to try any funny business with his sister.

With his heart thudding in his chest, he knocked. Muffled voices came from inside. Footsteps clattered. And then the door swung open. "Kuznetsov." Lee was the epitome of defensive, with his arms folded and a glare on his face. Bryan blinked at him.

"Hey."

"She's not ready yet."

"Oh." Lee's glare stepped up a few notches.

"Listen, if I find out about anything -funny- going on with you and her-"

"You won't." Lee turned his head slightly, the better to glower. Bryan cleared his throat before continuing. "There won't be anything funny going on for you to hear about."

"If you make her cry..."

"I won't. Not intentionally..." Apparently, this was the wrong answer. Lee stepped out into the corridor beside him, shutting the door behind himself.

"I am telling you right now, Kuznetsov, that if I ever find her crying over you, I will rip you into little pieces. I care a lot about my sister, despite what might appear to be the case, so just -watch- it, right?"

"I will."

"Do you care about her?" Bryan puzzled on that for a second.

"I think so."

"Thinking so isn't good enough. Do you care about her?"

"I don't know anything about caring about people. I worry about her...is that the same thing?" Lee eyed him some more, then snorted.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But you just be careful, Kuznetsov, or there'll be trouble." He opened the door and walked back inside the room. Bryan wasn't sure if Lee meant for him to follow him in, but Mariah appeared in the doorway before he had to embarrass himself and ask.

She was all decked out in pink- much to Bryan's absolute non-surprise- and wearing her hair up in bunches. He had never seen her in bunches before. They looked nice.

Hmm. Tala had said to tell Mariah when he thought things like that. Bryan was still a bit unsure, though. He mainly stuck to vague comments like 'you look nice', but date-doctor Tala had informed him that girls preferred more specific compliments. Though precisely where Tala had picked that up from was a mystery, because he was shacked up with Kai and Kai, as far as Bryan knew, was not a girl. In fact, Tala had never been interested in girls. Therefore, could his advice be trusted? Still...it sounded pretty reasonable...

"I like your bunches."

"Do you? Lee said they look stupid...I was going to take them out..."

"No, don't. You suit them." Mariah smiled up at him and he smiled back. Seconds passed with them just staring at each other, then Bryan was dragged back into the world at large by the sound of someone clearing their throat with all the subtlety of a pneumatic drill. "Look, are you two going or what? Only I'm off out myself and if I don't go soon I'll be late!"

So Bryan and Mariah set off for the lobby, smiling. On the way there, Bryan took hold of Mariah's hand. He had learned over the past few weeks that Mariah liked him doing that, just as she liked it when he hugged her without warning her beforehand. It took a lot of courage for Bryan to do that- he was so used to asking permission for every little thing that it was second nature. Still, he was trying, and trying hard. He didn't skip out on his therapy sessions any more, despite hating them. He was making a real effort. Because he -liked- Mariah. He wanted to be a good boyfriend to her.

As they carried on down various corridors, Bryan wondered about that. About being Mariah's...boyfriend. Girls, he had to admit, were quite an alien idea to him, and relationships were as well. But so far it had seemed to work...

"Bryan, what did Lee say to you?"

"Oh...nothing. Just...you know. Stuff." She smirked.

"So even when I told him not to say anything embarrassing he did? I'm sick of telling him that I'm a big girl now and I can do things for myself..."

"He's just...protective. I can understand that. So...what is it we're going to see again?"

"Annie's Hope." Ah, yes. The latest slushy sob-fest. Bryan was pretty sure the movie would bore him senseless, but if he got bored he could just drift off into his own little world for a couple of hours.

They stepped out into the street, cold air rushing to meet them and biting through their clothes. The notion of his clothes being bitten through made Bryan smile, moving closer to Mariah. There were a risky few seconds in which he considered moving his arm up to her shoulders, but in the end he didn't because they were at the cinema already. The neon-lit, alien-looking cinema. Bryan had only been once before to watch a very un-horrific horror movie with Tala. Although Bryan had discovered that after breaking free of Boris' stranglehold on his life he was pretty unshakeable when it came to fictional horror. Perhaps the movie had been scary and he hadn't noticed.

Still, that was beside the point as he paid for the tickets and Mariah fussed over popcorn. Bryan couldn't see why people liked popcorn. It was...tasteless. So he bought himself a tub of smarties, hoping it would be full of orange ones. Smarties were his favourite kind of junk food now. And while he was careful to not eat too many for fear of his waistline, he felt that on a special occasion he was entitled to eat as many as he liked. His therapist had recommended that he splash out every now and then anyway, so he could feel justified.

He stuffed them awkwardly into his coat pocket, the better to hold Mariah's hand and their tickets, and they went in.

Half an hour later, he was bored rigid. The film was -disgraceful-. The plot was totally and absolutely pathetic. The acting was overdramatic and ridiculous. There were a crowd of complete idiots in front of them who kept turning round and leering at Mariah in such a way that Bryan was tempted to smash his boot into the face of the next one who did it. But he wouldn't let assault and being arrested ruin his time with Mariah. So he just glared. After a while Mariah took matters into her own hands and told the ringleader that she was going to rip off his testicles if he didn't stop gawping. Bryan winced at the very suggestion, then settled down to picking out the orange smarties from the tub and eating them four at a time.

Luckily, just as the smarties were getting boring the -desperately- sad part of the movie started so he had an excuse to put an arm around Mariah and hold her close. She snuffled into his shoulder as the heroine screamed her way through a death scene. Bryan was not at all amused. Nor was he moved in any way. It was just so unlikely. He'd seen people die, and no-one around had ever acted like -that-. Still. It wasn't like he'd come for the film. He'd come for the company, which was wonderful. And though he was aware that people were looking at them together and wondering why Mariah was willing to be seen in public with someone so rough and mean looking, he enjoyed the general cinema experience immensely.

It was an added bonus that by the time the film was over he still had half of his smarties left as a placatory gift for Tala, who had been quite miffed that Bryan was leaving him with no-one but Ian for company. Kai was out of town on some kind of questionable errand, and so Tala was being mopey and miserable, deprived of his so named 'Shagamuffin'. The images that that conjured in Bryan's mind were both comical and disgusting. Muffins, Kai and Tala blended into one strange thought, a thought that he pushed away as they filed out of the cinema, venturing out into the cold once more.

It was even more sub-zero than it had been before, and so it didn't take long for Mariah to start shivering. Bryan watched her for a few seconds, took hold of her hand, let go again, and stripped off his coat. "Here. Put this on. I'm used to the cold, you aren't." They paused for a second at the roadside so she could put it on. It was at least three sizes too big, but Bryan knew it was warm.

"I d-don't think it goes with my outfit!" She giggled, moving towards him and letting him put his arm around her. "Th-thanks though. You're s-such a gentleman..." Bryan blushed slightly.

"I just don't mind the cold."

"Don't say things like that. You do it all the time." Mariah chided him gently. "You do nice things and then you seem to want to make it sound like it was just an accident that you did them."

"Um."

"Like if I was to say thank you for not getting all stifling and protective of me in there and letting me sort things out for myself-"

"I...I just didn't want to be arrested..."

"See?" She laughed softly. "It's cute, but you should have a bit more confidence. You never seemed to have a lack of it before." Bryan blinked. No, he supposed he hadn't. But things had changed. He knew he was a very different person to who he'd once been. "I've...changed, since then."

"Still...bear it in mind. If you do something nice for me...take the credit sometimes."

And by that point they were back in the hotel, going back through the corridors and to Mariah and Lee's room. "So..."

"Um. It was fun tonight." Bryan felt that he was only half lying. He'd enjoyed himself, but he hadn't enjoyed the film. But Mariah just smiled at him.

"It was. I mean...I don't know many guys who would even bother going to see a romantic movie like that, let alone stay awake for all of it..." Mariah smiled at him, opening her arms for a cuddle. Bryan settled his own around her waist and hugged her tightly, sighing.

"So...goodnight."

"Yeah. Goodnight." Bryan hesitated for a second and then leaned forwards, pressing a gentle kiss to Mariah's cheek.

"KUZNETSOV!" The poor Russian shot back, panicking a little. Lee was at the other end of the corridor, looking murderous. "I told you-"

Lee stopped short as his little sister grabbed Bryan and kissed him fiercely. And Bryan, while enjoying the kiss immensely, was waiting for the feeling of his spine being snapped in two. But no, there was so de-spining. Only a slow parting, a small smile, and a glance upwards. "I told you, Lee, I'm big enough to make my own choices now." Mariah stated boldly. The older neko-jin folded his arms, screwed up his face and then nodded.

Click, click. The door opened, and Mariah was ushered inside. Lee followed her in and just as he was about to close the door, leaned around it. "I'm still watching you, Kuznetsov..."

Bryan didn't even flinch as the door slammed in his face. With his lips still tingling and his pocket full of smarties, he set off back to his own room...

Fin

* * *

R&R please! 


End file.
